There are more traffic fatalities caused by cellphone use in Tennessee than in any other state.

Maybe it's an American trait, assuming each of us is the best driver on the road, one who can always navigate out of trouble. So what's a little bit of typing to worry about, as we weave in and out of traffic at 70 mph?

We hold such a high opinion of our abilities that it's disconcerting when statistics get in the way. Here's one: There are more traffic fatalities caused by cellphone use in Tennessee than in any other state. Here's another: In the time it takes to read an average text message, a car moving 55 mph travels the length of a football field - space in which a lot can happen.

Driving and texting has been illegal in Tennessee for three years, but you would never know it. Motorists repeatedly text, regardless of age, gender and income. Law enforcement officers know this, but there isn't much they can do because the law is so weak.

The statute allows drivers to talk on their phones and dial their phones, so the only way to enforce it is for officers to clap eyes on the texter at the moment when they appear to have exceeded the time it would take to dial a number.

It's no wonder that law enforcement agencies in Middle Tennessee have issued just 389 texting violations since 2010. Even though the casual observer can spot that many drivers texting in a week.

Study after study has concluded that texting while driving leads to accidents. Most of the studies show the distraction of simply talking on the phone while behind the wheel is dangerous.

So where is the will for Tennesseans to start caring about this? Advocates have called for stronger enforcement of the current law, but it needs to go further than that. Law enforcement needs an unambiguous law from the legislature to begin with.

And yes, that would mean no cellphone use - at all - while driving; or at least hands-free phone use only. Then an officer can stop, and cite, a driver because there is a phone in his hand while operating a vehicle.

Does this bruise anyone's sense of personal freedom? If distracted driving is a "right," then why isn't hitting a person with your car also a right?

The current law is so vague that police interviewed for the news story in today's Tennessean could not even say with specificity how many of the traffic fatalities they see every year are caused by phone use. It isn't because they are inattentive - they just aren't given the tools to actually put a stop to texting while driving.

For years, the seat-belt law has been unambiguous in Tennessee. If you are in a moving car, you are expected to buckle up. It's that simple. Cellphones and driving should be treated the same.

It's time to divorce the two.

ADVERTISEMENT

Most Popular

Most Commented

More Headlines

Most Viewed

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Eyes on the road - always

There are more traffic fatalities caused by cellphone use in Tennessee than in any other state.